Donations put 'lady in van' in new wheels

Saturday

Jun 22, 2013 at 7:41 PMJun 23, 2013 at 12:23 AM

As the 66-year-old woman settled into her new home — a used blue-and-white Ford van, cleaned top to bottom by friends and paid for by strangers who wanted to help — her head of gray hair could barely be seen over the steering wheel.

MARK I. JOHNSONSTAFF WRITER

DELEON SPRINGS — As the 66-year-old woman settled into her new home — a used blue-and-white Ford van, cleaned top to bottom by friends and paid for by strangers who wanted to help — her head of gray hair could barely be seen over the steering wheel. "I'll have to adapt the seat so I can see over the dashboard," Delores Sunderlin said Saturday afternoon in a vacant lot behind the auto repair shop run by Kenneth "Mickey" Hiatt, who, along with his wife Karen, has been a guardian angel of sorts for more than a decade. "The seat is comfortable, though," she added. Like any move, it will take some time to adjust to new surroundings. But the paralyzed DeLeon Springs woman seemed ready to move into the next chapter of a life that has had its share of troubles, from being shot in the back in a domestic violence incident 40 years ago to becoming a fixture in West Volusia as "the lady in the van" for the last 15 years. A News-Journal story about a May 16 fire in the van — and Sunderlin's rescue by Hiatt and two Sheriff's Office Citizens on Patrol volunteers — prompted a flood of donations from readers that helped pay for the new "mobile" home. "This is terrific," Sunderlin said Saturday of the generosity provided by friends and strangers. "I'd probably be in a nursing home (without) it." Sunderlin would have been trapped in the burning vehicle had it not been for the efforts of Hiatt and sheriff's COP volunteers Bill Higham, 75, and his partner, Sally Christ, 77. Hiatt said Sunderlin called him saying the van was on fire. "When I came out, that is when I could see we had a real problem," he recalled. Higham and Christ, who were on routine patrol, spotted the trouble and stopped to lend a hand. Hiatt grabbed their fire extinguisher and put out the flames. He said the interior of the van was filled with black smoke and once they got Sunderlin out, they opened it up to air out. But this tale of lifting a hand to help another in need didn't start or end there. Hiatt, who has allowed Sunderlin to park behind his Rhetta Street auto repair shop for years, collected almost $1,500 in donations from people who had read about her plight in The News-Journal. He said he used the money to buy the used van and install the handicapped-driving equipment that has allowed Sunderlin to become a familiar sight in the parking lots and on the side streets of West Volusia. "I want her to be in something that can get her from point A to point B," he said after detailing the aged vehicle. Hiatt admitted he was taken aback by the cash that came in to help Sunderlin, although he doesn't believe such accommodations are appropriate for the elderly woman. "No air conditioning, and no heat is no way to live," he said. But the new vehicle is a far sight better than the old one. "It was a bunch of patches," he said. Sunderlin said she has been living out of a van for more than a decade since she lost her residence in Casselberry. "I didn't have the means to get a new place, so I moved in here," she said. "I have no family; it is just me." Hiatt said Sunderlin will soon have to find a new place to park her home and get the electricity she uses to power her fans or heater. He has leased his shop and will soon retire. But, calling DeLeon Springs "Small Town U.S.A," he expects she be able to relocate somewhere soon. Sunderlin is taking everything in stride. "I didn't expect this amount of generosity, but it is here," she said.